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At the end of 2018, the Patriots had the most wins in the division's history, with a record of 500-392-9, with a playoff record of 35-19 (6-5 in Super Bowls) entering the playoffs of that season.[1] The Dolphins were second at 446-350-4 (having played 84 fewer games than their division rivals) with a playoff record of 20-21 (2-3 in Super Bowls).[2] The Bills were at 406-470-8 with a playoff record of 14-15 (with two American Football League titles) and 0-4 in four consecutive Super Bowls.[3] The Jets held a record of 396-480-8, with a playoff record of 12-13 including a victory in Super Bowl III.[4]

In 2012, the Patriots broke a tie with the Dolphins for winning the most division titles; with subsequent division titles in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 the Patriots have won 21 AFL/AFC East division titles to Miami's 14. The Bills have won ten division titles, and the Jets have won four. As of 2019, the last season which the Patriots did not win the AFC East was in 2008, when the Dolphins beat them in a tiebreaker.

AFL Eastern Division

The American Football League Eastern Division was formed during the inaugural season of the American Football League in 1960, as a counterpart to the AFL Western Division. The divisional alignment consisted of the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, New York Titans and Houston Oilers. The Miami Dolphins entered the AFL in 1966 as part of its Eastern division.[7]

Although Miami is farther south than the home cities of the other three teams, all of which are in the Northeast, all four AFC East teams have historical rivalries among them, dating from their years in the AFL during the 1960s.[9]

None of the AFC East teams currently play within the central city of their metropolitan area:

The Dolphins play in Miami Gardens, Florida, a suburb of Miami (Miami Gardens was separated from the city itself and incorporated in 2003).

The Patriots play in Foxborough, Massachusetts (they played in Boston, the largest city in New England, until 1970 and adopted their current name in 1971 when they moved into what eventually became known as Foxboro Stadium).

Almost analogously, three out of the four NFC East teams do not actually play within the city of their naming (only the Philadelphia Eagles do so).

All of the teams are or were coached by a first or second generation member of the Bill Parcellscoaching tree: the Patriots have Bill Belichick; the Dolphins had Tony Sparano; the Jets had Eric Mangini (who served as an assistant with both Belichick and Parcells); and the Bills had Dick Jauron (fired on November 17, 2009), who served as an assistant with former Parcells assistant Tom Coughlin. The Jets were coached by Todd Bowles (2015-2018) and the Bills were coached by Rex Ryan for 31 games (the entire 2015-16 season, and he was fired before the last game of the 2016-17 season and replaced with interim Head Coach Anthony Lynn). Parcells himself coached the Patriots (1993-96) and the Jets (1997-99) and was Vice President of Football Operations for the Dolphins until the summer of 2010.[10]

+ - A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. Division standings were ignored, Miami had the best record of the division teams.

+ - A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. Division standings were ignored, Miami had the best record of the division teams.

Total playoff berths while in the AFL/AFC East

(AFC East records 1960-2016 seasons)
Reflects Colts & Oilers results only while in the East Division.
In the sortable table below, teams can be ordered by name, number of division wins, playoff berths, or titles.